Apr 25 (newsonjapan.com) - Many may immediately think about the USA and MLB when professional baseball is brought into the discussion.
However, true fans of the sport know that the sport is also huge in popularity in Japan. Ever since 1872 when baseball was introduced by professor Horace Wilson, the sport enjoyed huge popularity among Nihonjin. It was so popular that it was the only sport played professionally in the country up until 1993 when football (soccer) joined the party.
If you want to learn more about the Japanese Baseball League or how the sport evolved to the present day, keep on reading. We will discuss that history and how it came to remain popular to this day.
Where Does the Love for Baseball Come from in Japan?
Known locally as “yakyuu”, baseball needed more than the actions of a university professor to become the only professional sport in the country. Horace Wilson’s introduction of the game was certainly the first contact locals had to the game. It seemed to be popular right away, but more as a niche sport. It wasn’t until the post-World War II era that the game really started to boom into the national phenomenon it is today.
The first professional baseball team in the country was founded before World War II - the Great Japan Tokyo Baseball Club. Founded in 1934 and owned by media mogul Matsutarō Shōriki, the team even played an exhibition game against an American All-Star team featuring the likes of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Fox, and Charlie Gehringer.
It goes without saying that that single game helped boost baseball’s popularity in the country. The American tour performed by the Japanese team in 1935 added fuel to an already considerable fire.
The History of the Professional Baseball Leagues
The success registered by the first professional Japanese baseball team prompted others to form teams in Tokyo and across the country. All this rapidly led to the establishment of the Japanese Baseball League in 1936. The Tokyo Kyojin, another team founded in 1934, dominated the early years of the Japanese Baseball League (JBL) winning six league championships in a row - from 1938 to 1943.
Starting with the 1950 season, the JBL rebranded as Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) which came with a new concept. A two-league system was proposed and it quickly became popular. This will turn into the Pacific League - known at first as the Taiheiyo Baseball Union - and the Central League.
The two-league system is used to the present day and it proved to be a huge success for baseball in Japan. Even though the number of teams in each league dropped from eight to six, the opening to interleague play offered Nihonjin baseball fans plenty of matches to enjoy.
Japanese Players in Major League Baseball
With such a vibrant baseball culture developing in Japan, it was only a matter of time until the US talent-seekers started looking for future stars in the island country. While for the players, the step towards MLB was considered the highest point of their careers, the Nippon Professional Baseball leagues suffered from the exodus to the US.
It all started with star pitcher Hideo Nomo. He retired from the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1995 only to join the Los Angeles Dodgers the same year. He spent 14 seasons in the MLB and won the Rookie of the Year Award the following year and had the best record of strikeouts in two separate seasons.
The successful move for Hideo Nomo to MLB inspired other Japanese players. It opened the tap for a major talent drain to the US. Hideo’s move to the LA Dodgers had such a huge impact on Nippon baseball that it led to establishing the posting system. An international player transfer system between the NPB and MLB. This posting system basically prevented other players from ‘retiring’ from Japanese baseball only to join a team in the US later on.
Over 60 NPB players made the move to Major League Baseball after Hideo Nomo paved the way. Some of them achieved great things in the MLB as well, reaffirming their star status:
- Ichiro Suzuki - Seattle Mariners
- Hideki Matsui - New York Yankees
- Kazuhiro Sasaki - Seattle Mariners
- Kazuo Matsui - New York Mets
- Shohei Ohtani - LA Angels
NPB’s Plans for the Future
Baseball is incredibly popular in Japan. Despite football and various forms of motor racing also gaining in popularity, the Nihonjin haven’t strayed from their first professionally-played sport. The NPB is even planning for expansion in the near future. Politicians among the Liberal Democratic Party, represented by Prime Minister Suga, proposed the expansion to 16 total teams. This would return the NPB to its original size.
Besides offering fans more games to enjoy, the four additional teams would energize the economies of the regions providing new teams for the NPB. Among the Japanese regions believed to be strong candidates to give the new teams for the two-league system, Okinawa, Shikoku, Shizuoka, and Niigata are great prospects.
